In the years immediately preceding the war (1803-1812), England was dominated by a faction that pledged itself not only to defeat Napoleon but also to maintain British commercial supremacy. The two main points of contention between England and America during this period— -impressment and the restrictions imposed by the Orders in Council—- were direct results of these commitments. America finally had no alternative but to oppose with force British maritime policy, which, although partly caused by jealousy of American commercial growth, stemmed in large measure from involvement in total war with France. In addition to tracing the gradual drift to war in America, Reginald Horsman shows that the Indian problem and American expansionist designs against Canada played small part in bringing about the struggle. He examines the efforts made by America to avoid conflict through means of economic coercion, efforts whose failure confronted the nation with two choices: war or submission to England. Since the latter alternative presented more terrors to the recent colonists, America went to war. [publisher's comments]
Chapters: 1. Background of the Conflict/ 2. The Threat of Invasion/ 3. American Indecision/ 4. A Whig Interlude/ 5. The Monroe- Pinkney Treaty/ 6. Embargo and Orders in Council/ 7. The Failure of Embargo/ 8. Erskine Agreement/ 9. The Problem Of the West/ 10. The Turn Of The Tide/ 11. The Growth of Opposition/ 12. Crisis In The Northwest/ 13. The War Hawks/ 14. America Goes To War/ 15. Conclusion
The constitution and register of membership of the general Society of the War of 1812, June 1, 1908. Organized September 14, 1814. Re-organized January 9, 1854. Instituted in joint convention at Philadelphia, Pa., April 14, 1894
xiv, 15-427 p. plates, ports., fold. map, facsims. 25 cm.
Notes
"First edition."
LCHS copy "number 145 of a special limited and numbered edition which has been autographed by the authors."
Bibliography: p. 415-418.
Summary
A letter of marque and reprisal was a government license that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a nation at war with the issuer. The author states that the activities of the Baltimore privateers "were so many and so varied that, taken as a whole, they represent a cross section of all privateering at the time."
Includes bibliographical references (p. [311]-332) and index.
Contents
"Lincoln and liberty": why an antislavery president meant war -- "Richmond is a hard road to travel": gaps between expectations and experience -- "Kingdom coming in the year of Jubilo": revolution and resistance -- "Mine years have seen the glory": the war and the hand of God -- "Many are the hearts that are weary tonight": the war in 1864 -- "Slavery's chain done broke at last": the coming of the end -- Conclusion: what this cruel war was over.
Summary
Chandra Manning uses letters, diaries, and regimental newspapers to take the reader inside the minds of Civil War soldiers-black and white, Northern and Southern-as they fought and marched across a divided country. With stunning poise and narrative verve, Manning explores how the Union and Confederate soldiers came to identify slavery as the central issue of the war and what that meant for a tumultuous nation. [from the publisher]
William S. Dudley, editor, Michael J. Crawford, associate editor ; with a foreword by John D.H. Kane, Jr.
Place of Publication
Washington
Publisher
Naval Historical Center, Dept. of Navy,
Date of Publication
1985.
Physical Description
714 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents
Chapters: The Maritime Causes of The War - 1805-1812/ Naval Operations in the Atlantic Theater,January to August 1812/ The Northern Lakes Theater,June to December 1812/ The Gulf Coast Theater, February to December 1812/ The Atlantic Theater, September to December 1812.
Summary
This volume is presented as the first of a three-volume documentary history of the United States Navy in the War of 1812. As such, it contains selected documents which display the flavor and substance of maritime warfare between the United States and Great Britain during the period 1812 1815. We have drawn heavily on naval records held by the National Archives and Records Service. To these we have added others reflecting a variety of viewpoints: the plans and reports of British naval officers who engaged our forces, newspaper columns of the day, statements of civilian officials who were charged with direction of the war, and the papers of private citizens who chose to go to war for personal profit though at great risk. The substance of this book is the life of the navy. It includes documents on such diverse subjects as the causes of the war from a maritime perspective, the navy's preparedness for operations. the recruitment of seamen and marines, the construction and filling out of ships. the treatment of sick and wounded men , questions of insubordination, incompetence , and jealousy among officers and men. matters relating to the supply of food, drink, clothing, armaments, and spars for navy crews and ships, the operations of privateers, as well as navy warships, and the plight of men held as prisoners of war. In short , these pages will show the American navy as a human institution, with all the nobility and frailty that phrase implies. [from the Preface]